Page 43 of Behind the Cascades
He chuckles as we walk. “You mean when I had to physically hold you back from punching her in the face?”
“Yep. Still wish you would’ve let me.”
“And ruin our trip to the Bahamas? No way. I had you in a bikini with unlimited drinks. No way was I giving that up to have to bail you out of jail.”
We walk around a bit more, and finally I spot Olivia and the rest of the family schmoozing it up at the Cascadia Sheriff booth. Dan is holding Ellie and chatting with another local, while Olivia smiles at everything he says. She's told me before how much she hates these things, but looking at her, you'd never be able to tell. She shines just as brightly as Dan does, and she does it all for him. His goal is to eventually run for Sheriff once his dad retires. A lot of that is pleasing the town, and Dan is the ultimate people pleaser. Olivia does everything with a smile, and if it weren't for the exhaustion hidden behind her eyes, I'd never know she was only doing it to be the dutiful wife.
Olivia sees us, and her eyes widen a fracture before a real smile lights up her face and she excuses herself and Ben.
"Hi! It's so nice to officially meet you. I am so sorry that I had to lie to you the other day." She says it with a sheepish grin.
Hayes chuckles. "Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you were looking out for my girl.”Swoon.
Ben looks up at Hayes and then back to his mom, confusion written all over his four year old little face. "Mom, lying's bad."
Olivia smiles easily, letting it roll off her shoulders. "This is one of those gray areas, buddy. Most of the time, lying is bad. But sometimes we have to make tough choices to help the people we care about."
Hayes squats so that he's on Ben's level. "Your mom's right. I'm glad she didn't tell me the truth, because she did it to keep Charlie safe.
I hear a small laugh starting to escape Olivia. "Yep, and my introduction wasn't even as bad as your dad's. Did you know that when he first saw Hayes, he tried to arrest him?"
Ben's little eyes go wide. "You?! But you're huge!"
Dan walks over to give Ellie to Olivia and laughs upon hearing the rest of the conversation. "Hey! He's notthatbig, and I'm a trained professional."
Then he sticks his hand out to shake Hayes hand as Hayes stands back up. "Sorry again about that. I don't normally rip people out of a booth unprovoked."
Chuckling, I say, "It's really a bummer no one got a picture. I can already see the news headline for the Cascadia Gazette, ''Lieutenant Dan manhandles Navy SEAL to the ground.'"
"Ha, Ha, Char." He gives me a hug and then looks back at Hayes again.
"I know she's got a big brother who's probably already given you the speech, but in case you forgot, don't hurt her again. Or else, I really will manhandle you and throw you in a cell.”
My cheeks feel hotter than normal at all this attention, but I’m so grateful for the Turners and all they’ve done for me. Dan’s taken on that big brother role without even blinking. He’s got a heart of gold and doesn’t even realize he changed my life with the simple action of sending me to my best friend.
Hayes wraps his arm around me and kisses my forehead.
Hayes
Still holding on to Charlie, I look at Dan. "I appreciate you looking out for her when I wasn’t. I’m mad as hell that she felt like she had to leave, but I’m glad she found y’all. If there’s one good thing to come out of all this, at least it’s that."
Dan looks at me, assessing me one more time, and then smiles. “Olivia and I had no doubt that you’d be here groveling the second you found out. Glad to see you proved us right.”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate the vote of confidence.”
Olivia pats Ellies back while slightly rocking her. "I'm going to walk over to the office and grab her stroller so she can nap."
Charlie smiles and says, "I'll go with you!" Then she kisses my cheek. "Grab a beer for me?"
They walk away, taking Ben with them, and Dan loses all sense of ease—the smile slipping from his face.
"Let's get in line for that beer." He motions toward the beer tent, which has at least thirty people in line.
Nodding, I follow him, unease hitting me like a sixth sense.
"What's up? You look like you're about to tell me you ran over my cat."
His cheeks puff out as he lets a breath out. "We haven't told Charlie yet, because we don't have any proof that it's her stalker but..." My heart rate picking up is the only sign of the panic overtaking my body and I haven't even heard the entirety of what he has to say. The visceral need to want to runaway and hide with her hits me hard.Now I know how Charlie felt.
